Those old phonos with the microphone input were used a lot with square dance groups and PE teachers back in the day (when things were wholesome...). I have almost the same model Newcomb- it's wonderful! I also have an old Califone- I wouldn't part with either of them.
This is like comparing Diarrhea to Gourmet Organic non GMO Food. Its a super low end consumer grade kids toy, the newcomb is institutional grade not to mention china vs US is no contest. Its sad anyone would glorify the Crosley but the reality is they dont know better and thats even sadder. Most young people have no clue what quality is
Actually, I just sold the Crosley to someone who really wanted one. Part of me doesn't like to sell this type of new record player; but, as already has been proven, I can advertise the vintage stuff until hades freezes over and no one buys it. However, I can advertise some piece of modern electronics and they gobble it up. So, if that's what they want; then, so be it. The buyer wanted it to put in his classroom to play records. I asked if his school still had any old Califone players left and he said that they did not.
shango066 You pretty much hit the nail on the head. I've got a nice, ornate Crosley console radio from 1930 that's been restored and I've been trying to get $200 for it. Last week, three people (all iphone users) saw my facebook ad's and claimed they wanted the radio. The problem was that they thought it was $20. When I told them it was $200, they lost interest real quick. One girl said it was coming up as $20 on her phone. I pretty much told her that I didn't care what was coming up on her phone, the price was $200.
My god somebody flush that Crosley brand... Good grief people must be dumb as heck to think that crosley is a benchmark name In LP playback. That thing was beyond horrible!! Wasn't even worth the time & energy & pollution it took to manufacture the thing let alone destroying any belief that anyone that buys this crap actually enjoys hearing music!!! Lol lol...
I cannot thank you enough for making this video. Friends of my mom wanted a player to listen to there un replaceable Jazz and Sinatra records. I suggested a component turntable for good quality as well as preservation of those wonderful Jazz LPs from the 50s. And the response i got was "we don't want one of those expensive things, we just want to play them" well... now the heavy tone arm of the junk plastic crosley has totally destroyed almost the entire collection. It really is sad, they had one of the most complete collections of 50s Jazz i have ever seen. If you would,, please use your digital scale to show how heavy the crosley tone arm is, maybe it will help prevent the damage of other hard to find LPs.. thanks so much.
Another informative video for those who don't know better and even though I do I still very much enjoy watching your videos. Although it isn't currently hooked up due to lack of space I still have my good old Dual turntable I have had since the late 80's, new compared to a lot of your stuff but it still runs perfectly.
I was in elementary school in the early 60's and we had bomb drills just like fire drills, only we went to the basement instead of outside. The commies are going to drop a bomb in my small Pennsylvania town any minute now. So, I suspect that the Newcomb was just that!
I remember in high school (late 70's), seeing and hearing "brickhouse" played on on that exact model (Newcomb) and it sounded great and can can hear it across the courtyard.
I've got my mom's old Sharp Turntable/Tape player/Radio stereo system from either the 70s or the 80s. It plays the records at a slightly higher pitch than it probably should, but I couldn't care less. IT WORKS!
I really enjoy your hilarious and spot-on commentary re: your projects with vintage gear compared with new crap. New crap serves its purpose, in a throw-away culture kind of way, right? A USB set is great because it makes it EASY to transfer old records into WWW sharable cultural gems . But there is nothing like the quality of which you often speak of in your vids. I'm sure you are familiar with the old German made Dual turntables that were included in most decent quality Fisher etc. console systems. My TT ( a United audio/Dual brand)was accidentally dropped from an 8 ft high perch onto concrete, during moving. And it still works to this day! A Chinese throw-away TT would have exploded.
Thank you for this video! I've had a $50 Jensen for 4 years and I wanted to get a new record player for Christmas! So I'm now asking for a 70's Sharp turntable system with 8 track and receiver and original speakers! Instead of a cheap Crosley. Thank you!!!!!
Here is an interesting thought, vinyl records are coming back because people say it is better. It is ONLY worthwhile if you get a decent vintage hifi setup. These young people who have only have heard Crosley record players have NO idea what they're missing!
Good afternoon sir from northwest FL! I have a new comb phonograph very similar to yours that has very minor problems with the treble and bass adjustments were would someone looking to revive an old vintage classroom phonograph go to look for parts for these things? Thanks for any advice!
I might consider doing a follow-up video about the two record players that I have. It will be my GE Wildcat record player from 1975 which was USA made Vs. The Victrola VTA-600B stereo system from 2019 with a Crosley clone turntable from China. I will do that in a future video.
Hey radiotvphononut. Can the Newcomb classroom record player be used for cleaning your vinyl records when setting the speed selector to the 16 rpm position?
Sir, I have a very good Technics 1650 record changer from the late 70's. I totally agree with you. Older is better... Especially when it comes to Crosley junk. Crosleys aren't meant to be reliable. They're just meant to look nostalgic and that's it, nothing more. If you ask me, they're hardly even successful with that. I'm an audiophile who craves vintage audio just like you. Are you on facebook? I'll send you a pic of my Technics record changer.
The Crosley LOOKS nice, but I would take the Newcomb any day. If the crosley had a tone control, instead of being marked "low" and "high", it would be "tinny" and "really tinny"! I have a 70's BSR turntable with a ceramic cartridge, and as long as it's connected to an amplifier with a high impedance input it sounds great.
Love your vidoes I totally agree with you the modern stuff is crap. I still have my old 1960s auto changer record player which is well over 40 years old and it still works. Greetings from the UK where we once had a great electronics industry.
Great video! I love Newcomb stuff. It was pretty expensive in the 1960's because it was designed to last in a school environment. Totally US made too! I have one of their classroom cassette recorders. Very high quality. A bit hard to service because they riveted so much of it together. That was an American practice. "Why use screws when rivets are cheaper and will do the same job? Repair? What, who would repair this?" In spite of this, the machines are great. Thanks for posting this video.
Many thanks for this video. I have an old Newcomb player but it is solid state-wish I had a tube Newcomb or Califone. I was going to sell it until I saw this video, and decided to see if I could repair it instead. The turntable stopped turning altogether. I took the turntable off and looked at the idler wheel and it still looked almost new but was kinda hard to turn. I took it off and put grease on the shaft put it back together. It was the easiest fix ever! It works just like a new one with only 5 minutes effort! It plays great and loud-too loud so as to speaker distortion at about 50 % volume. Maybe I need to hook up an external speaker. I do have a fairly new Audio-technica AT-PL-120 record(2009) player also. It works great and plays 78's. It cost about $350 when I bought it new in 2009. Well worth the money. Yes Crosley's are super junk--would you believe that one just sold on ebay for $238.00??? I don't think they cost that much new. Bob
Sure you can. Dual for starters is making modern turntables that are as good as the ones made 40 years ago. You pay the price for them though, 300.00 and up.
Moonwalker917 Good vintage ones fetch some good money. I have sold a number for over 100 each. Personally I don't understand what the interest in vinyl is these days. My son has spent every dollar he has on vinyl records, video games and comic books. He claims it sounds better, really, and he can tell this listening to daft punk, and the other noise he listens to? From my musician ears it sounds like vinyl, the type of sound that makes a musician cringe compared to the sound in the studio. A good CD player playing a CD, not an MP3 version will sound superior to any vinyl, no matter how good the pressing or needle/cartridge is any day of the week. That's from my musician ears, not some hipster that thinks they know better, but everyone has their own idea of what good sound is right. If everyone wanted accurate sound then the ipod and other mp3 players wouldn't exist.
+12voltvids Both have their ups and downs, there really isn't a superior format to listen to music on. I still buy Vinyl and CDs, and I like vinyl because it's more of an interactive experience, feels more "warm", and the large artwork, gatefolds, etc. But I like CDs for the ease of use, and don't have to worry about wear and tear.
+Jordan Hancock Very true. There are new media players, Pono is an example that delivers an experience unlike anything you have heard before unless you are a musician, or an engineer in a studio. Music legend Neil Young started this company because he was unsatisfied in the way people were hearing his music. The big labels are behind it. I had the opportunity to listen to one, and was blown away by the sound. I listened to a live performance, and could not tell it was a recording. It sounded as good as any life performance I have attended, and I am not talking ear shattering ACDC or Gins and roses type noise. I am talking a proper concert hall, ull of musicians playing acoustic instruments. It was that good.
12voltvids I remember seeing a youtube video on that player, haven't had the chance to hear one myself yet, but I'll take your word for it. We're in a sticky situation for music right now. We have advances towards higher fidelity but at the same time were dealing with streaming and MP3 which is extremely accessible, but definitely not the cream of the crop.
This is the same Crosley I saw some days ago in the supermarket, I didn't even notice it had built in speakers until you mentioned them, the tone arm was already broken and had no stylus, so, I couldn't give it a try. There were stacks of new modern LP's as well, surprisingly they ask 40 dollars for each record when I usually can get up to 20 old records for the prize of one of those. I can assure there are better players in the trash, as once I saw a 70's Sanyo with a BSR sitting on the side of the road, sadly couldn't get out of the car to pick it up because I was late.
Thank you, it was very informative. Honestly, when I read the title "2013 Crosley record player Vs. 1964 Newcomb record player (don't buy a Crosley)", it sound one sided. The "don't buy a Crosley", sounded harsh. But watching the video, and the explanation of what you are trying to say, made sense. I been looking at record players, and all of them been Crosley. Urban outfitters and Barnes and Noble have them displayed. And they look great with the looks and style. And that's the appeal, it's a lifestyle look and feel. I will look at Newcomb, and see what's available. For me, I would like the looks and sound of a great record player. Again thank you for the video and side by side comparison.
Hey radiotvphononut. The first two record players I used to own were a mono RCA Victor children's record player from back in the 1960's & a stereo GE Wildcat from back about 1971 or 1972. Both of those two record players played 78's as well as 33's & 45's. The RCA Victor also played 16's. And none of those two had a needle made be flipped over for playing 78's. But, I did have a stereo Soundesign AM / FM / FM stereo record changer 8-track player combo which was first made in I believe 1975. It had a BSR record changer built in to the unit. It was the one I actually had where you could actually flip the needle over for playing 78's. The turntable I now own is an MCS Series Digital 5000 Series from back in the 1980's which will only play 33's & 45's. That same turntable itself sounds absolutely beautiful playing a 180 gram vinyl record. What do you think about all of this? Thank you! :) Merry Christmas to you! :)
Unfortunately, the younger folks grew up with the cheap stuff and thats all they know. They have nothing older to compare it to in thier shorter than our lifetime. Crosley of today truly IS junk, like a lot of other crap.
The spring loaded 45 rpm adapters were a problem for flexi disc records and other 7 inch light weight records with small holes as they don't have enough weight to hold down the adapter. You will need to use a piece of scotch tape to hold the adapter down to play such records.
I'm looking for one of those vintage school record players! I saw one of those cheap Crosley ones in a pawn shop a while back and after poking at the crap plastic parts I gave it a pass. I remember those players while I was in school too (I'm 42) and I already recently bought a new Califone school cassette recorder for 20 bucks off eBay and even though it's brand-new it's still built like a tank. I don't know how many or which of those school record you players you still have but I am interested in getting one, do you sell them through Craigslist?
To be honest you don't really need to buy expensive modern gear... in the UK at least, 90s turntables by the big Japanese companies (and a few lesser-known British manufacturers) were getting to the point where they were a bit plastic in construction, but they still had a lot of manufacturing integrity. I'm thinking of the typical turntables included with mid-spec midi systems, which were usually separate by this stage. They had good quality P-mount cartridges (I have a Goodmans Delta 800 which is by no means an expensive unit, but it comes with an Audio Technica cart) and the servo motors were decent and reliable. It has only been over the last 10-15 years that things have taken a real turn for the bad, mainly due to the fact that turntables have moved out of the mainstream... a typical Japanese bookshelf system (which costs around $200) is as well made as it ever has been, but usually only has a CD player, digital radio and sometimes network streaming for that money. Times change.
Very interesting. I'm not in the market for a vintage turntable, being one of those audiophile people who uses a modern rega Turntable. But I'm still interested in the type of cartridge used in the Newcomb. Is it ceramic or moving magnet, and what is the approximate tracking force it places on a record?
+MarkPMus Most of the school record players like Newcomb and the other brands back in the day had ceramic carts, but they sounded good for that erea. They had a heavy tracking force, I would not play good quality albums on them. They worked good for playing the records of that erea, I think the vinyl back those days was a tougher grade of vinyl than has been made the past 35 years. I own a Califone school record player and it plays good, I play old 45s on it sometimes. My good turntable is a direct drive Technics and I would put it up against the over priced Rega's and other autophile turntables. Why spend so much money on a turntable when you can get great sound off an old ventage turntable like a direct drive Technics ??? Hell I could put any cartridge I want on that old Technics and their is no noise from it and it holds a perfect stable speed.
+Kelly Whatever damage a 6 gram cast-aluminum arm and a slide-in Astatic awl/cartridge did to the "Dr. Dolittle" soundtrack and the disk to go with the "Don't talk to strangers driving old Edsels with the lock buttons cut off and ice cream cones between their legs!" filmstrips was probably irrelevant compared to what an adventurous kid to do to an "Elac Miracord 22h" in ten unsupervised seconds.
No Name I have a moving magnet cart on my ventage Technics and I run it at 1.5 grams. It plays great, excelent tracking and no noise from the turntable. I only paid about $100 for my Technics off Ebay and it plays about as good as a new $4000 unit.
The Crosley is a piece of crap. Don't waste your money on one. An Audio Technica AT-60LP is a nice inexpensive unit but you need to get speakers for it.
And speaking of Crosley, they put out the C100 turntable which is a much better improvement than the crappy Crosley turntable. It went from poor quality low end junk into a high end perfection. It is a Technics SL-1200 clone. I've seen many of the SL-1200 clones in many of the brands including the Crosley C100, the latest one in the variety of turntables.
Those Crossley's give vinyl a bad reputation. I see so many people buy those thinking they are revisiting the old classic warm vinyl sound from yesteryear. All of those Crossleys are pretty rough on records too. Total crap.
also another weird flaw ive noticed with that particular crosley model is that if you manually spin the turntable with the power switch on, it will self power itself and the speaker and everything will work.
I have seen a similar thing with a Crosley traveler turntable, where the power LED turned on when I unplugged it and spun the platter. It’s just the cheap thing like the cruiser model, but the speakers are larger. It hardly sounds any better at all. I think it has a bad stylus though, it sounds scratchy on records that sound perfectly fine on other turntables I used that feature the common audio technica magnetic cartridge.
Aside from that, I remember the Califone. I used to have my 1430C school record player from the early 1970's when I was growing up back in my PS 154 days in Brooklyn, but the older model was also made by Rheem, the company that made air conditioners and heaters which was also part of Califone until it was bought out. That brings back memories.
I remember those Newcomb record players from the 1960s. I think all public schools in California had them. I got detention in 5th grade for playing a record while the teacher was out of the room. It was the the Tommy Roe song "Dizzy." I vaguely remember the lyrics. "I'm so dizzy my head is spinning. Like a whirlpool it never ends. And it's YOU girl makin' it spin" When my teacher came flying into the room she ripped it off the record player and said "Dizzy huh? I'll make you dizzy you little hooligan!" That was Mrs. Glenn. She was an old lady from Texas and was the meanest teacher in the whole school. She was one of those teachers who could wither you with a single glare.
These "new" Crosley's were a good idea for those that like me, abandoned vinyl, but kept it stored and didn't have a record player that worked anymore. I got a couple Crosley's in 2006. One for me,one for my Dad. It was neat to play records again. But the sound wasn't as good as my home stereo. I still have my Crosley's, but don't use them anymore. They are toys. Nothing more. I bought an Audio Technica and it plugs into my amp. Sounds 1000 times better. The classroom Record player you showed is real quality. Back in the days when quality was expected and affordable.
13:30 Compactron tubes were introduced in 1960 in an anticipation of competition with solid state electronics. they typically had two triodes & a pentode, or two pentodes, or four triodes
+Paul Callas Hello: Newcomb did make a stereo version of the player in the video but they are a little harder to find. The player in the video cannot be converted to stereo.
In your first Crosley vid, you had one of the all-in-one units....I had a chance to examine one for myself in a department store. Some of my observations; 1) the volume control was sloppy, and felt as though it might break off in my hand, 2) the tuning knob only worked through part of it's travel 3) the tone arm was wobbly, like one of those Vanity Fair children's record players from the 70's/80's. 4) the cabinet looked to be finished in cut-rate shelf paper. I wonder how many baby boomers are buying these as a blast from the past, only to be shocked by how horrible they are? I bet the return rate on them is quite high.
hey radiotvphononut i would REALLY like to hear any info (model number,etc) you have on the last newcomb you show in the video around the 13:53 mark. i used to have one just like it, cord wads up into a tube in the right rear side, spring loaded feet...etc. i was probably 11 or 12 and the school i went to was tossing a bunch of old stuff in the trash and i snagged it. it worked great with a new needle and some fresh oil to the bearings. the tube amp in it was very powerful and high quality, unfortunately i dont know what ever happened to it, sadly i think my mom may have tossed it.
nvm i did some DIGGIN! and found www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=243128 which appears to be a post made by you! let me know if you want to sell it! SELL IT TO ME AND I WILL PERSONALLY BURN A CROSLEY AND UPLOAD IT!
That Newcomb is just a great design. Wish you would sell me one of these.... Cheers! 🍻 Great video comparing the qualities of the eras. Nothing is made good anymore. -Al Cox
At the mall today I saw a Crosley record player for sale exactly like the one in this video and it reminded me of this video and I had to watch it again.
I remember back in the 80's you could buy these Newcomb and Califone industrial record players all day long for 25 or 50 cents each at school surplus auctions. They always worked well and had good needles. They are some of the best portables ever made. Now you're lucky to find a good working one in a flea market selling for under $50... which is still a great buy. Most of the ones that are still around need new idler wheels and won't play at proper speed when they dry out. Several online vendors sell new wheels or will rebuild existing ones.
I'm lucky to live in Louisville Kentucky where we still have a family owned business that services and repairs vintage electronic equipment. Your videos are always informative and so true. Most stuff today is cheap Chinese junk sadly
***** But the late 60's to 70's conceived some of the biggest advancements in modern stereo. Transistors in receivers greatly reduced harmonic distortion and Turntables became more adaptable. There were a lot of advancements with phono cartridges.
I'm a mom wanting to buy a turntable for my 13 year old daughter. I see lots of what not to buy. I have my husbands from the 80's. should I repair it (weird noises when it turns) or should I buy new. If so what should I look for. Thank you.
Repair the old one, as long as it is a quality one from the day (i.e. Technics, Audiotronics, Pioneer, or Kenwood). If it is a lower quality unit (i.e. Sound Design) try and find a good old fashioned unit like the Newcomb in this video. I hope you take this advice, buying a Crosley leaves a bad taste in the mouth of someone wanting to get into record collecting.
Awesome! I would almost say this is an apples to oranges comparison, but for what you pay for one of these modern pieces of junk you can get a restored, vintage piece of gear that will last another 40 years. I restore vintage turntables in the Atlanta, GA area. Hopefully a few people out this way will be smart'nough to run across you videos comparing junk to real turntables, and buy some good vintage gear.
Califone was another brand of schoolroom players that can also be considered. I have both Newcombs and Califones. I bought every one I could when our local schools and colleges surplussed these back in the 1990s. The best ones have variable speed turntables and huge 12-inch speakers.
I have a crossly cruiser, and I hooked it up to some speakers and it sounds wonderful. But I will admit allot of the older record players sound so much better. My grandma has a 1950's Recordplayer and it sounds fantastic!
My Victrola all-in-one stereo system has the same thing which is poorly designed, but it did used Captain Skyy’s “Super Sporm” on the inside of the main output.
Its not really fair to compare these two products. After all, one was built 50 years ago and was a main stream media player for the masses (not to mention America built better stuff then) and the other is a throwback oddity that's suppose to be fun. I'd imagine any real audiophile would have some high end stuff to play back their vinyl so they don't damage it. These new things are just a novelty is all... You can't take it 100% seriously.
trekguy31 Neither pick-up is necessarily gentle to your records. The Newcomb likely sounds amazing, and is far more rugged. Gentle ceramic cartridges have been designed, such as the trimline Tetrads in the 1960s and 70s, but generally they aren't exceptionally kind to records, but can be acceptable.
If you want to massively improve the fidelity of the Crosley, if it is using the typical ceramic cartridge, take a syringe, fill it with silicone grease (di-electric grease from the automotive store), and inject this into the cartridge. This will dampen resonant vibration of the cartridge. You can also use Vas-o-line, but if the cartridge uses real rubber dampers, they will be ruined in a year or so. I've used Vas-o-line in these cartridges (the ones used on Crosley players that I buy and use on my 78 players) with good results, but I don't guarantee this.
Beside the quality distinction between record players made 50 years ago and today, have you noticed the parallel distinction between humans produced in the two eras?
Crosley was a good American brand. Opportunist attach the name to retro looking stuff. I received a new Crosley product as a gift, and it is not polite to fuss.
Nice comparison. Vintage turntables are the best than Crosley junk. I've seen Crosley turntables at Barnes & Noble last week. I rather stick with mines including my Fisher turntable from the 70's with a BSR record changer and my GE Wildcat record player also from about 1975 and my Technics turntable SL-BD1 from 1985 that I actually got from my uncle's cousin back in 2012.
Quality stuff today?? I bought a Chinese made T&P (Temperature\pressure) gauge for the boiler over the web. Threw it away as junk. Bought a 2nd type and it leaks slightly when the boiler runs more (Deep winter). I looked into having the old "U.S. Gauge" T&P restored and it (Like the old player) was quality made. The overhaul cost was just too excessive. I have not discarded the old one because those items are not meant to be discarded. The pressure mechanism became inaccurate and for something 50 years old I can accept that. It worked for almost 50 years since U.S. Gauge manufactured it.
the build quality on modern record players Crossley are rubbish my Fidelity and Dansette record players have good quality BSR decks and good amplifiers I won`t buy a new record player at all
Nice. Playing Chicago! It's funny looking back to our old technology to remind is of the fact that we used to be the envy of the world with our manufacturing and won world war II partially due to the fact that we were a manufacturing superpower and economic force to be reckoned with. Battle of midway was won because we could produce more than Japan could. We didn't even have superior plane technology. Now we move everything overseas. But when you look back at these solid record players and see the attention paid to quality and reliability, it makes me happy.
Сергей Маслов нет. Я имею в виду нашу сторону войны. Причина мы выиграли нашу войну с Японией. Я должен был разработан более. Я понимаю, что русские носили почти все борьбе World War 2 с большинством жертв Я имел в виду, что мы выиграли нашу половину войны в части из нашего собственного производства abilities.Russia определенно жертву многое другое для войны. Извините за причиненные неудобства.
